ADW News

Singer R. Kelly Charged With Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse

ADW News

February 23, 2019

Looks like time is officially up for R. Kelly. Nearly two months since the docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly” aired, the disgraced singer has officially been charged with multiple sex crimes in Chicago. To date, no charges have been filed in Georgia.SEE ALSO:The FBI May Be Closing In On R. Kelly
Kelly was hit with “10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County Friday morning, records show,” the Chicago Sun Times reported. His lawyer, Steven Greenberg, was not available for immediate comment.SEE ALSO: Timeline Of R. Kelly’s History Of Sexual Assault Allegations
After several accusers came forward in recent months, two more women — Latresa Scaff and Rochelle Washington — did the same on Thursday.
Represented by Gloria Allred, Scaff said she met the singer at a 1996 concert in Baltimore. “When I first met R. Kelly that night, I was very happy and excited because I was young and starstruck. However, now that I am an adult, I feel hurt by what he did to me when I was only 16 years old and under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, which had been provided to me at his afterparty.”
Attorney Michael Avenatti recently gave a video to Cook County prosecutors, which could be where Friday’s charges stemmed from. The lawyer said in a statement that he was hired last April in connection to multiple allegations of Kelly sexually assaulting minors. He claimed to have a 45-minute VHS tape as evidence, which, despite its similarities, was not the same video got Kelly indicted in 2002 — and acquitted in 2008 — for child porn.
One major legal problem that Kelly faces is that Illinois has no statute of limitations on sex crimes against minors. In 2017, Illinois enacted legislation that ended a requirement for child sex abuse victims to file a report within 20 years of turning 18 years old.
There’s also growing pressure to put an end to Kelly’s alleged abuses. Chicago residents appear to be in no mood to let Kelly off the hook for a second time if a recent protest against him in the Windy City was any indication. After the docuseries aired, demonstrators rallied outside a building leased by Kelly, calling for a boycott of his music.
“Surviving R. Kelly” has already prompted further legal scrutiny, which means law enforcement probably already has enough to charge him now that this new video has surfaced. It seems like just a matter of time before Kelly finds himself facing justice, again.